Chapter 41: Lightning

John and Edward exchanged an alarmed glance. John left Maria with Edward and rushed out to investigate, hurried footsteps echoed down the hall. Mika caught up to him.

"Assho—John, I interrogated Marco earlier," she cleared her throat mid-sentence, her voice changing to a low tone, filled with gravity. "He told me something important. Another group of survivors approached him with a deal. They promised to help Maria, but it went sour."

John ignored her antics. His eyebrows furrowed, and he prompted her to continue.

"They asked Marco to sneak some monsters into the bunker," Mika explained. "Marco refused at first, but they took Maria and used some alien tech on her, leaving her in a coma. He had no choice but to comply to save her."

John's expression darkened as he absorbed the information. The situation had just taken a dangerous turn. "Good job," he muttered to Mika, his mind racing with the implications of the betrayal.

They reached the massive bunker door, and the banging from the other side continued, accompanied by muffled voices and threats. John knew that they had to make a decision quickly. He looked through the monitor, but a quick glance was enough to show him that they were outnumbered.

With a determined look in his eyes, he turned to Octavia and Mika.

"We're dead if we open that door," John warned. His words sent a shiver down their spines. Mika turned to a contemplative state as she thought of ways to get out of this predicament while Octavia brandished her blades on full alert.

"Luckily, that door will hold, for now..." John stated. "Let's go, there must be another way out of here."

John turned on his heel and Octavia followed. Mika caught up a second later as she snapped out of her contemplation.

"Octavia," John called out, "gather whoever can fight and bring them to me."

Octavia nodded and rushed to complete her task. John turned to Mika and asked, "can you fight?"

"Tch, no..." Mika muttered. She hated not being able to defend herself, but why would a fuck doll need to defend herself? That perverted old man knew what he was doing, at least that's what Mika thought.

"Does Edward have anything you can use to fight?" John asked

Mika's eyebrows shoot up and dashed out in a rush. John chuckled and joined Octavia who had gathered a large group of people. All looked ready to fight. John nodded and they followed.

They walked back to the common room and John approached the helpful Brian, "is there another way out of here?" John asked.

"Yes! Follow me," Brian exclaimed, quickly rushing off beyond the kitchen. The group followed Brian as he passed the kitchen, arriving at yet another corridor. The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly. It had no doors, only worn-out brick walls and the stale of abandonment.

They walked for a long, boring minute and reached another reinforced steel door. "This leads to inside the old textile plant, but if you follow the corridor on the other outside, you will exit through the back of the plant," Brian said.

The group nodded and exited the bunker. A dark, dusty environment loomed as they stepped into the old textile plant. Only cobwebs, dust and old machinery remained. John turned to look at the group. They seemed ready, he thought.

"I will create a distraction. When they scatter, pick them off one by one." John said. It was a simple plan, but there was no time for schemes.

The group nodded and John sprinted out towards the second floor. He draped on his camouflage coat and activated his Quiet Steps. He peeked out of a broken windows and saw the massive gathering.

It was quite a quaint scene. Spiked clubs, machetes, knives, swords and spears glinted in the moonlight. John's figure blended with the night sky as he jumped out of the window.

His foot touched the cold concrete, but it alerted no one, not even the thug in front of him. John thrust his Venomlash and plunged his dagger into the thug's back. Through gritted teeth, the thug let out a muffled groan, but John blasted him towards the crowd with a Shockwave.

The crowd turned around in alert and stared with wide eyes at the lifeless corpse. They whipped their gaze towards the source of the shockwave, but there was no one there. John had slipped back into the darkness.

His muffled steps were a whisper only the floor could hear and his figure blurred and blended with the surroundings. John leaned against a corner and eyed a pair of thugs isolated from the rest.

John slinked through the shadows, barely a whisper. He spotted two thugs isolated near a crumbling wall. In a flash, his dagger found one's throat while a Shockwave hurled the other into the rubble. Cries rang out before being silenced.

Chaos erupted as the gang realized an unseen threat lurked amongst them. They brandished weapons wildly, searching for the phantom stalker.

"There, in the building!" one thug shouted, catching a fleeting glimpse of John's camouflaged form as he vanished inside. A dozen muscled gang members charged toward the entrance.

They never made it. With savage war cries, Octavia, Mika, and the others ambushed from the flank. Octavia's blade sang as it cleaved through enemies. Mika swung a glowing mace, crushing a skull with a sickening crunch.

The battle descended into pandemonium. John continued his guerrilla tactics, cutting down stragglers before fading away. The gang's numbers dwindled rapidly between the twin assaults.

The survivors fought valiantly, defending their turf with a fierce determination. The invaders fell one by one, their initial confidence shattered by the relentless assault. The element of surprise had shifted, and it was now in favour of John and his group. As the battle raged, the invaders' desperation grew, but they couldn't match the coordinated efforts of those defending the textile plant.

Just as it seemed the tide was turning definitively in favour of the defenders, one of the attackers unleashed a powerful and unexpected skill. With a booming roar, he raised his hands to the sky, and dark, ominous clouds gathered overhead. Lightning crackled, and the ground shook as if the very earth was rebelling against them.

A shockwave of energy rippled outward from the attacker, knocking some of the survivors off their feet. The air crackled with power, and a bolt of lightning struck down, narrowly missing John. It was a display of pure elemental fury, unlike anything they had seen before.

The survivors were taken aback by this unexpected turn of events. The attacker's skill had shifted the balance of power once more, and the defenders found themselves on the defensive. Octavia, Mika, and the others regrouped, their faces etched with concern, realizing that this fight had just taken a perilous turn.

John's mind raced as he assessed the situation. They had to find a way to neutralize this new threat, or all their efforts might be in vain. He knew they needed a plan, and they needed it fast. As the battle continued to rage around them, they prepared to face this new threat.